Breakdown of Pasażerowie czekają, bo pociąg ma opóźnienie.
mieć
to have
pociąg
train
bo
because
czekać
to wait
pasażer
passenger
opóźnienie
delay
Questions & Answers about Pasażerowie czekają, bo pociąg ma opóźnienie.
Why does pasażer become pasażerowie in the plural instead of just adding -y or -i?
Pasażer is a masculine personal noun (a word for a male person or a mixed group of people). For many professions, roles, or titles, Polish uses the special plural ending -owie. Other common examples you might already know are panowie (gentlemen/men) and synowie (sons).
Why does the Polish sentence use ma (has) instead of a word for "is"?
In English, a train "is delayed", but in Polish, a train "has a delay". You use the verb mieć (to have) followed by the noun opóźnienie (a delay). Literally, this half of the sentence translates to "because the train has a delay."
If the current lesson is about arrival verbs like przyjechać, why are we using czekają and ma here?
This sentence describes ongoing, continuous states, not a completed arrival. The passengers are currently waiting (czekają) and the train currently has a delay (ma). Because these actions are ongoing, we use imperfective verbs. If you wanted to say the train finally arrived late, then you would switch to a perfective arrival verb: Pociąg przyjechał z opóźnieniem (The train arrived with a delay).
If I wanted to add that they are waiting for the train, how would I say that?
The verb czekać (to wait) pairs with the preposition na followed by the Accusative case to mean "waiting for". Because pociąg is an inanimate masculine noun, its Accusative form is exactly the same as its Nominative (dictionary) form. So, you would say: Pasażerowie czekają na pociąg.
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